1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a female terminal which is attached to, for example, a connector housing, and in which a male terminal or the like of a partner connector housing is inserted and connected.
2. Description of the Related Art
Connectors are known which are structured such that a female terminal is attached within the terminal hole of a connector housing. The female terminal is tubular. A male terminal attached to a partner connector is inserted in the female terminal, and is connected thereto in a conductive state. Such a female terminal will be described on the basis of FIGS. 7A through 7C.
A female terminal 80, which is shown in a perspective view in FIG. 7A, is formed substantially in the shape of a rectangular tube. At the opening end side thereof, a plate piece extending from a floor wall 82 is bent over within the tube wall so as to form a plate spring portion 84. As shown in FIGS. 7B and 7C, a male terminal 86 inserted in the female terminal 80 is nipped between the plate spring portion 84 and contacting walls 90 projecting from a ceiling wall
88, while the male terminal 86 elastically deforms the plate spring portion 84 toward the floor wall 82. Namely, due to the urging force of the plate spring portion 84, the contact pressure (contact load) between the female terminal 80 and the male terminal 86 is ensured. Note that the ceiling wall 88 and the floor wall 82 are connected by a pair of left and right side walls 92.
Accompanying the demand to make connectors, which are applied to vehicles such as automobiles and the like, more compact, the need to make female terminals more compact also has arisen.
However, as described above, in the conventional female terminal 80, the plate spring portion 84 is formed by bending the plate piece over plural times above the floor wall 82. In other words, as shown in FIGS. 7B and 7C, the female terminal 80 is formed as a multilayer structure by the plate spring portion 84 and the floor wall 82 which forms the tube wall, and therefore, it is difficult to make the female terminal 80 more compact.
Further, in order to deform the plate spring portion 84 without interfering with the respective side walls 92, gaps must be provided between the plate spring portion 84 and the respective side walls 92. This also prevents the female terminal 80, from being made more compact. In addition, if the width of the plate spring portion 84 is narrowed in order to make the female terminal more compact along the left-right direction, it is difficult to ensure the contact pressure with the male terminal 86.